


Names

by mmmdraco



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-17
Updated: 2012-07-17
Packaged: 2017-11-10 04:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation about nomenclature leads to secrets being shared.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Names

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I mean no harm, I have no money... Stuff like that. Yeah

One day, after a long session of shidougo at a local gathering, Hikaru and Akira had adjourned to a somewhat more private location for their own enjoyment of go in the form of a game followed by a discussion in Touya Kouyo's go salon.

Today, however, Hikaru started the discussion just after nigiri. "Touya -- why did you call me Shindou-pro today?"

Akira took his go ke and looked momentarily confused. "Don't I always call you Shindou-pro?"

Hikaru placed his first stone and looked at Akira closely. "But why do you call me Shindou-pro? No one else does."

Touya paused a moment to contemplate his best move. "It's a fact. You are Shindou. You are a pro. You are, therefore, Shindou-pro. Besides, all of the guys from Weekly Go call you Shindou-pro, too."

Hikaru placed his stone and read the board quietly. "But why don't the other pros?"

Akira held his stone above the board for a moment before placing it with a *pa-chink*. "They just don't respect you because you haven't beaten them yet."

"Then why do *you* call me Shindou-pro? I haven't beaten you since I became a pro."

A pause crackled in the air. "Because I've seen you become the player you are today, and I can't help but respect that."

Hikaru countered Akira's last move easily. "Would you rather I call you Touya-pro?"

Akira looked up from the board as he set his stone. "I'd rather you call me Akira."

Hikaru swallowed and nearly misplaced his own stone. "You can just call me Hikaru. We've certainly known each other long enough to be Hikaru and Akira instead of Shindou and Touya."

"We've grown up quite a bit, although I think you've actually matured more than me since then." Akira continued to play.

"That's just because you were a miniature adult back then!" Hikaru smiled and the smile caught on with Akira.

Hikaru's smiled didn't falter as he continued to play and speak. "I didn't respect you at first, but I do now. I think we're even friends of a sort now... don't you?"

"We're at least as much friends as we are rivals. And..."

Hikaru echoed the pause briefly. "And?"

Akira smiled. "Perhaps we are something more?"

Hikaru swallowed a breath. "Not yet. But, maybe that before the Hand of God."

Akira's smile had dimmed slightly, but brightened again. Perhaps the Hand of God is in all of this, and by simply choosing to play, we will achieve it."

Hikaru's expression sobered. "Have you chosen to play this game, or was it chosen for you? Some days, I can't decide."

Akira played his next hand. "I can't decide on most days. But, I started to play, and I'll play until I can't play any more... Hikaru."

"Are you even talking about go anymore, Touya?"

"I told you to call me Akira. Isn't that easier since you know my father well, or at least his go?"

Hikaru chuckled lightly. "I know your go a lot better than I know your father's go. But the only person whose go I know well is-"

"Shuusaku's go?"

Hikaru smiled, but his mind drifted far away for a moment, though it joined his presently. "Yes. *Sai's* go."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "Sai is Shuusaku? What... is that like 'Ghost in the Shell'?"

Hikaru blinked. "You just made a pop culture reference. Who are you and what have you done with Touya?"

"Akira," he said. "No, what's this about Sai?"

Hikaru looked down at his go ke. "This isn't the kind of story meant for a place like this. Do you want to come to my house?"

Akira began to gather his stones back into the go ke.

"What are you doing?"

"We can play the game at your house. But this sounds like a story you've been waiting to tell for a long time."

"Thank you... Akira."

Akira smiled. "Come on. Let's go."

Hikaru grinned brightly and led the way.

And when they got to Hikaru's house, the story finally came out. As he finished telling it, he could feel his eyes welling up with tears. "And then he was just gone. That's why I took such a long break from go. I couldn't find Sai."

Akira gently put an arm around Hikaru's shoulders. "What made you play again?"

Hikaru leaned into Akira's embrace slightly. "Isumi. He had just come back from China and was about to take the pro exam. The previous year --he had moved a stone and resigned while I was deciding whether to ask him about it or not since I wasn't sure. So, he begged me to play him, and I finally did just to make him go away and make we stop thinking about go and I finally found Sai again because he was right in front of me in every move I made."

"That story would be so hard to believe if I hadn't seen so much of it happen."

"Then you believe me?" Hikaru looked up at Akira with confusion evident on his face.

"Of course I do. You've never lied to me before, Hikaru. I doubt you'd start with something so hard to believe, even if it does seem to explain a lot. Besides, I have stories of my own that some people won't believe."

"Such as?"

Akira smiled. "Like about the time I ran away from home when I was seven. My parents had been fighting because my father was never home. So, I packed up some toys and some food and just left. They looked for me, but couldn't find me until I came home myself three days later because I liked my sandbox a lot better than the one in the park."

Hikaru smiled up at Akira. "I believe it."

Akira felt himself stroking Hikaru's shoulder with his thumb. "Yes, but you've seen me angry. You've seen me skip a day of the pro exam to play Internet go against Sai. You've been there... a lot, haven't you?"

Hikaru's eyes were wide. "Akira... Do you remember what we were talking about earlier? About... something more?"

Akira's heart skipped a beat. "Yes?"

"Is this it?"

His breath growing heavy, Akira nodded slightly. "This is definitely getting there."

"Then... this?" And Hikaru's hand went to cup the side of Akira's face and turn it toward him when his lips were waiting. He first pressed his forehead lightly against Akira's, and then his lips -- his unsurety quickly disolving as Akira responded to the kiss.

When they pulld apart, Hikaru let his head rest on Akira's shoulder. "If that's it, then I like it."

Akira rested his head on Hikaru's. "Me too."

"Does this make us... boyfriends?"

Akira smiled. "Now, when have we ever worried about names?"


End file.
